Curious Court Martial

[Allyn]

Florentine Prenat, a French immigrant living in the "French Settlement" near New Albany, Indiana, enlisted on 26 Nov. 1861, for a three-year term with Co. K, 6th Kentucky Infantry. After serving for nearly a year – six months of that without pay – Florentine deserted from Louisville, KY, and returned to his home across the river in New Albany. A reward of $30 was issued for "Floran Prenatt," age 35, 5'7" tall, dark complexion. After eighteen months at home, he returned to the army on 8 April 1864, having been turned in and arrested. He was then sent to his regiment at Knoxville, Tenn. and was court-martialed in the field on 23 April 1864. He was found guilty in spite of some corroborating testimony, and was required to forfeit all back pay and serve the time lost during his unauthorized absence after his term of service expired, but nothing more dire. He continued to serve, and was wounded near Marietta, GA, on 23 June 1864.

Court Martial, 23 April 1864 in the field
Charge: desertion

. . . the said Florentine Prenette a private of Co. K 6th K Infty. did on the 28th day of Sep. 1862 obtain permission from his Company Commander for the period of twenty-four hours to visit his home in New Albany, Ind., at the expiration of which time he failed to return and has been absent untill (sic) April 8th 1864 at which time he was sent under arrest to his Company then stationed at Knoxville, Tenn. Daniel W. Owens, 1st Lt., 6th KY Inf.

Testimony of Owens: " I was a sargeant at that time. No passes were allowed from Head Quarters and the captain gave permission to about a dozen men who lived in New Albany, to visit that place." "He returned the 10th day of April. 1864."

Statement by Florentine Prenat: "When my pass was out I went to Louisville but the Regt. was gone. I reported to Head Quarters and did guard duty for four months when I got sick and went home. I was sick and did not hear of the President's Proclamation until it was too late to take advantage of it."

Owens claimed he did not know where Florentine was or what he had been doing during his absence, which is slightly disingenuous, since at least one company muster roll during this period noted that Florentine was at his home in Floyd Co. It doesn't appear that there was a very intense effort made to locate and return him to the army. Was this typical? And was the outcome of the Court Martial typical?

(As a footnote, his brother Joseph Alexandre Prenat, who served in the 38th Indiana Inf., Co. B, died at Andersonville, 19 Aug. 1864.)

 

[huskerblitz]

The overwhelming majority of the AWOL court martials for the 22nd Kentucky had the same stipulations (forfeit pay from time absent and make up the time). Though I do remember reading that eventually the military said they couldn't be forced to make up the time. Many of them were eventually transferred to the veteranized 7th Kentucky Infantry when their initial enlistments ended.

Some of the men were arrested (those that were had to pay back that bounty) and some eventually came back. The Lt. Colonel actually had ads out in the paper encouraging his absent men to return.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

I had a relative in a KY regiment who also decided to prolong his furlough without permission and was gone for over six months. He received the same punishment - forfeiture of pay and had the time he missed added on to the time of his service.

He left again after the war ended, not wanting to go out west with his company, but apparently no one bothered to track him down this time. His only punishment for this last desertion seems to have been having his request for a soldier's pension turned down.